Rookie gunning for NRL debut

AARON Whitchurch is gunning for an NRL debut after spending an intensive pre-season with the Brisbane Broncos.

The talented Woodford teenager, who played for Stanley Rivers in the Sunshine Coast Junior Rugby League, was in the Broncos under-20 team last season and was invited to join the first grade squad for the build-up to 2011.

“We’ve been training since November 1,” he said.

“It has been really good but really hard. It’s a big step up from what I am used to.

“There have been about 30 of us, including about five guys from the Queensland Cup.

“We started doing three sessions a week but now we’re up to six sessions a week.”

Whitchurch and the Broncos were put through their paces when they attended a back-breaking four-day camp in the Sunshine Coast hinterland last week.

The private boot camp was designed to draw the players together and to test their mental and physical strength.

“That was really hard but we got a lot of out of it,” Whitchurch said

“We had ex-SAS members taking us down a track, which is used as a training track for people before they do the Kokoda Track.

“We had to carry some heavy stuff and we walked for up 10 hours a day.”

Whitchurch, 18, is hoping to play for the Broncos and impress selectors in the team’s upcoming NRL trials but concedes he is likely to spend the majority of the season in the under-20 Toyota Cup.

“I’ve still got a couple of years where I can play under-20s, so I’ll probably play there again this year, but I’d love to get a call up (to the NRL),” he said.

At 103kg and 186cm, Whitchurch is a versatile and agile player. He played for the Australian Schoolboys open team in 2009 and represented Queensland under-18 last year.

“I have been mostly playing in the centres but I could be playing second row this year, which is probably where I would prefer to play,” he said.

Fellow Sunshine Coast product Jack Reed is also part of the Broncos pre-season squad.

Reed, 22, a centre from Bribie Island, is affiliated with Norths Devils in the state league.

Another footballer from Bribie Island Matt Gillett, is in the main Broncos squad after playing a starring role for the team last season.